Jamestown, Va. ? Archaeologists found a large cache of early-17th-century armor deep in a well in historic Jamestown, a hint as to the military readiness of the New World’s first permanent English settlement.

The pieces, found about 10 feet below the surface, include body armor and possibly breast plates, back plates and helmets.

“Most archaeologists will go their whole lives and not find a single piece of armor,” archaeologist Eric Deetz said Thursday as each new piece emerged from the narrow, brick-lined shaft.

Led by Bill Kelso, researchers for the Jamestown Rediscovery excavation project recovered the first piece of armor from the well about two weeks ago, when they were only 3 feet below the surface.

The artifacts are believed to date no later than 1618, suggesting that the shaft could reach back to the colony’s earliest and least understood era, beginning in 1607. Prior finds from that period have been mostly bits of clay and other nonmilitary items.

Archaeologists remove a fusion of brick and metal from a well in Jamestown, Va. Archaeologists found early-17th-century armor deep in a well in historic Jamestown, the New World's first permanent English settlement.

The archaeologists also have turned up remains from deer, pigs and cows clues to the settlers’ diets. At least 2 feet of water-logged soil remain to be explored.

The wells provided a convenient place for the colonists to dispose of their garbage and a wet, unusually protective environment that preserved them.